Out of Oakhurst: a Classic Adventures tale
by Ipsissimus
Summary: A story of the wonderful Classic Adventures mod. A druid, a thief, and a ranger walk into the forest--wait, this sounds like a bad joke. Set at the same time as BG1, but beginning in Sembia, and with an entirely different plotline.


_A/N _Classic Adventures is a Total Conversion mod for Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. It bears little relation to the original game. More information can be found at ca . spellholdstudios . net. Although this mod is technically still in-progress, it is still excellent and should be played.

For the record, my PC is a half-elven totemic druid named Rhiannon Lind (and a cookie for anyone who gets where her surname comes from). I plan to expand on her background more in later chapters. There's also a possibility that she'll meet up with my Bhaalspawn Ildera.

Also, I've noticed that I stink at writing fight scenes. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated.

_

* * *

  
"One final issue before you set off," Jermien announced. "Shadow?"_

_ A sulky-looking halfling in shabby leather armor skulked over to stand behind him. "What?" She sounded irate and childish in equal measure._

_ "Rhiannon, you will likely have to deal with traps and locks in the Citadel," the mayor explained. "Shadow here can help you."_

_ "You mean this little wet-behind-the-ears is in charge?" Shadow practically shrieked. "I swear, I was just looking!"_

_ He shook his head. "Rurik's accusation still stands," he said. "You were caught thieving, regardless of your denials. Should you help us, you may do as you wish, so long as you do not enter Oakhurst again."_

_ She snorted. "What would I want in a place like this anyway? Fine, I'll help fetch your stupid apples."_

_The mayor grinned. "Well, Rhiannon. It looks as though you'll have your work cut out for you."_

_I just groaned. "Silvanus help me." This was going to be more difficult than I had expected._

_

* * *

_

_ "How are you holding up there, Shadow?" I asked. She was trying, to say the least. Remaining patient with her was a challenge._

_"I'm fine. You don't have to baby me, you know. Also, you might want to look behind you." She pointed._

_"I—what?" Oh, wonderfully eloquent. "It's all flat scrubland, nothing can hide here." Instead of answering, the halfling nocked an arrow on her shortbow. I finally realized what she had been talking about—not far off was an elf fighting off a pack of kobolds. How could I have missed that?! "Zith," I whispered._

_My snake materialized. "Yesss, Mistressss?" it hissed._

_"Follow me." I ran forward, staff held in front of me, and the yipping monsters immediately turned their attention to me. Perhaps that hadn't been such a good idea. Shadow released two arrows struck in quick succession, felling one of the little beasts. The strange elf struck another with the butt of his spear and it collapsed. Perfect, except that two of the kobolds were still fixated on attacking me. I just kept blocking, my quarterstaff gaining a dent with every parry. Fighting has never been my strong suit. One of the kobolds gave a series of short, sharp barks, and I could swear that it was laughing at me. Shadow's next arrow lodged in its chest, and its laughter ceased. One was a number I could handle. The last of those yapping beasts fell as my staff collided with its temple._

_"Mae govannen," the elf said. "Well met. I am Paraway from the South Wood, near Waterdeep. I am of the Raven tribe."_

_"Are you a Green elf?" I asked. I knew little of the elven races, but Paraway's tattooed face and dark skin could only belong to one of the Sy'Tel'Quess, as my mother called them. "What brings you to Sembia?"_

_"Tracking a prisoner," he replied shortly. "A witch. I fear that my people released her. If this is so, I must find her, and learn who allowed such an evil person to be set free."_

_I frowned. "A witch? I can't say that I've heard of one nearby. My village sent me to retrieve a magic apple."_

_"Where is this apple you speak of?"_

_Shadow interrupted me. "As if she knows. The mayor of that backwater town just said that we had to talk to the goblins."_

_I glared at the halfling. "In order to purchase another of the apples. An unusual number of people have fallen ill lately, and only the apples seem to heal them properly. Normally the goblins come to our village, but this year we can't wait."_

_The ranger nodded. "It is dangerous to trust such foul beasts." He half-turned, looking over his shoulder, and smiled. "Do you see the raven?" Indeed, one of the large black birds was perched in the topmost boughs of an oak. I looked away as it fixed its beady eyes on me. "He has followed me throughout my journey. Perhaps he has led me to you, and it is a sign that we should work together."_

_Shadow was a fair shot with her short bow, but it was all I could do to avoid hitting myself with my staff. "That sounds like an excellent idea," I replied. "A quest for a quest, then. Help us with the apples, and we'll help you find this prisoner."_

_"Hey, who says I want to stay?" Shadow interjected._

_"It's your decision, Shadow. If you want to leave after this is finished, then good luck to you," I replied._

_

* * *

  
Shadow crossed her arms, staring down into the ravine. "Okay, someone explain to me exactly what I got forced into."_

_"We are here to go talk to the goblins," I replied. "I take it you know about the sickness in Oakhurst?" Gods, she'd better. The halfling nodded. "Jermien sent me to purchase another of those peculiar apples that the goblins normally sell to us."_

_"I got that. I even understand that they heal people. You only said it a dozen times, after all." Sarcasm. Oh dear. Just when I thought I'd learned to cope with her._

_I raised one eyebrow. "So what are you asking?" She pointed into the dark ravine._

_"What does that have to do with us? Why are we going down there? I thought we just had to get some apples."_

_This was going to be far more difficult than I had thought. "Silvanus' leafy—ahem." Shadow rolled her eyes. "Didn't you listen to the mayor?" In all probability, she hadn't, but I'd rather not repeat myself._

_"Well, no. What is this place, anyway?"_

_I sighed. "It is the home of the goblins. We need to speak to them."_

_"Why didn't you say so?" Forget Silvanus. One god's aid alone would not help me deal with this...child._

_"Come on, we should get going. Preferably before we run into another group of kobolds."_

_"Not so fast. There's something weird about this place. I mean, everything looks dead here."_

_That was an understatement. The land surrounding the ravine was all dusty, dry scrubland. There were few trees, and the plants that did grow were spiky, abnormally small, or nigh invisible against the parched earth. "Do you really want the whole story?" I asked._

_Shadow shrugged. "I've got time. Also, I don't think you want to bump into a trap down there."_

_"Was that a threat, Shadow?" Her sheer audacity amazed me._

_"Just give me the story, all right?!" _

_"As you wish, but I warn you, I'm no bard." I almost wished that I was. Bards as a group seemed to have some ability to summon the very plot of the story they wished to relate." I cleared my throat. "Several centuries ago, there was a fortress here. It was built by a cult of dragon worshippers, which controlled several large dragons."_

_"You said 'several' twice," Shadow pointed out._

_"I did. I also said that a dragon cult had dragons, which should be obvious, and I'm surprised you didn't catch that. I did warn you, you know. Anyway, the paladin order in what's now Ordulin tried to root them out. There was a stalemate for a long time, so the order's wizards decided to try something else. They cast a huge spell to sink the fortress into the earth."_

_"Did it work?"_

_"Sort of. The fortress fell into this ravine. The wizards were killed in the backlash of their spell, so they never closed up the ravine. Since the paladins won anyway, most people just thought that the fortress and cult were gone."_

_" 'Most people thought'? That's helpful. So is it gone, or not?"_

_I shrugged. "What's left of the fortress is still down there, although that isn't much. When I was younger, I came down here with some of the older kids. I saw a few walls still standing, but we didn't stay around very long. A few goblins chased us out."_

_"Great, and now I have to go down there," Shadow muttered. "Anything else you'd like to share?"_

_"Hmm. Apart from vaguely related but embarrassing childhood stories, no. Ready, everyone?"  
_


End file.
